Baader-Meinhof gang member goes on trial charged with killing German prosecutor 33 years ago

A former member of the German left-wing group known as the Baader-Meinhof gang has appeared in court charged with helping plan the assassination of a top prosecutor over 30 years ago.

Verena Becker, 58, wore dark sunglasses when she entered the courtroom in Stuggart on Thursday to hear the charges read out, with her lawyer declaring she would not be making a statement.

She is charged with participating in the shooting of federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback in 1977.

On trial: Verena Becker (pictured) appeared at the Stuggart court to hear the charges. She is accused of participating in the shooting of federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback in 1977

Mr Buback, one of the most prominent victims of the group, was ambushed by two people on a motorcycle when his car stopped at a traffic light in Karlsruhe on April 7 1977.

The killers escaped in a getaway car driven by a third militant.

Three members of the Baader-Meinhof gang were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for the murders, but authorities have never been able to pin down who fired the shots because members refused to talk.

Guerrilla: Verena Becker was a member of the left-wing group known as the Baader-Meinhof gang

Prosecutors have said they had no evidence to suggest Ms Becker had shot Mr Buback.

However, they said her DNA had been found on the envelopes of letters sent to authorities by the militants claiming responsibility for the murders and a subsequent search of her apartment turned up new evidence tying her to the crime.

The 58-year-old was arrested after a shootout with police two months after the murder. Officials probed her link to the crime at the time, but dropped the case in 1980 due to lack of evidence.

She was then pardoned for earlier crimes in 1989 by former President Richard von Weizsaecker.

The case was reopened though in 2008 when Ms Becker's DNA was discovered on the letters and she was re-arrested in August 2009.

She was released on bail but charged in April with conspiracy to murder.

The Baader-Meinhof gang launched in 1970 in response to what it deemed was a fascist German state.

The group claimed responsibility for killing of 34 people in attacks on West Germany's elite and US military bases before finally disbanding in 1998.

Ms Becker's trial is set to last until December.

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Baader-Meinhof gang member Verena Becker charged with killing German prosecutor